Back in 2012, when Taylor Townsend was just a 16-year-old girl who wore braces and played with ribbons in her hair, the USTA refused to fund her junior Grand Slam appearances, citing concerns about her fitness. It didn’t matter that she was the No. 1 junior in the world and had just won the Australian Open girls’ title. Two years later, she still stepped onto the red clay of Roland Garros and beat world No. 20 Alizé Cornet in front of a stunned French crowd. Now, over a decade later, she has earned multiple Grand Slam finals appearances, a Wimbledon title, and a top-5 doubles ranking, but not much has changed for the world. 

Townsend’s Wimbledon journey peaked in July 2024 when she and Katerina Siniakova lifted the women’s doubles trophy at Centre Court, defeating Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe 7-6(5), 6-3. It was a landmark victory—Townsend’s first Grand Slam title and Siniakova’s 8th—sealing their status as one of the most formidable teams on the WTA doubles circuit. Townsend, then 27, was flooded with attention: “I got 500 text messages. I didn’t know that many people had my number,” she told reporters at the time. But when the pair returned to Wimbledon in 2025 to defend their title, the outcome was different. 

On July 11, they were eliminated in the semifinals by the same team they had defeated a year earlier. Dabrowski and Routliffe edged out a tight 7-6(5), 7-6(3) win under the Centre Court roof, reversing the previous year’s result and denying Townsend and Siniakova a second consecutive title. It was a hard-fought match decided by two tiebreaks, but the defeat marked not just the end of their title defense—it became the trigger for a wave of fresh criticism directed squarely at Townsend. Hours after the match, Townsend shared a series of Instagram Stories in which she revealed the kind of messages that had flooded her inbox, all with a common theme. 

The messages that flooded Townsend’s Instagram after her Wimbledon exit weren’t critiques of footwork or net coverage. They went straight for her body. “With your obesity is impossible to win on the net,” one user wrote. Another, questioning her effort, added, “You played very poorly today. Weren’t climbing anything.” A third dismissed her outright: “Can’t make a first serve.”

The comments kept coming. One user decided to offer unsolicited advice: “Ever thought about losing weight?” Another didn’t bother with suggestions—just a verdict: “I’ve never seen someone so bad in doubles, you’re 15kg overweight.” Instead of hiding away from the hate, Taylor posted the screenshots to her stories, adding:

“Ngl, some of this is funny because who thinks to say this stuff.” Then came her response—brief, unbothered, but edged with fatigue: “I am happy that I’ve gotten thick skin over the years… But still, it’s annoying as the f—.” This still wasn’t the first time Townsend had to respond to hostility from beyond the court. At the 2024 US Open, she dealt with it in real time—this time, from the stands at Flushing Meadows.

When Taylor Townsend shut down “haters” at the US Open

During the 2024 US Open, Taylor Townsend displayed amazing prowess on the court in doubles. With her partner Katerina Siniakova, she managed to reach the semis before losing to Kristina Mladenovic and Zhang Shuai. However, it was the mixed doubles category where the 2025 Australian Open doubles champion really shone.

Playing with compatriot Donald Young, Townsend went on to enter the summit clash at the Arthur Ashe Stadium. While they couldn’t win the trophy against the Italian pair of Andrea Vavassori and Sara Errani, it was an excellent campaign. But there occurred an instance during the quarterfinal stage that irked Townsend. When she and Young were playing in the R8 against Harri Heliövaara and Anna Danilina, several fans in the stands jeered at Townsend. Did she clap back? Well, not at that exact moment, but after emerging victorious, she took a jab at her haters in the post-match interview.

Townsend said, “Shout out to the haters in that corner over there. They’re gone. Where are you? I don’t hear you anymore. It’s okay. It’s okay. No, no, no, it’s okay! They’re gone. I don’t hear them anymore.” Townsend revealed that this was one of many hurdles that she faced. “A lot of haters, a lot of people who weren’t sure. I’ve heard it, for a really long time that I was never going to make it, that I wasn’t going to be able to break through or do this or do that.”

But it seems she’s really developed a “thick skin” to flick off unwanted negativity, and rightfully so. What are your thoughts on the hateful comments she’s received after the Wimbledon setback? Let us know in the comments below.

Also, don’t forget to follow the Championships in real-time with EssentiallySports’ Live Blog updates.